A RECENT article in the Montreal newspaper La Presse quoted growers as claiming that within a few years Canada would be a larger producer of cranberries than New England.

That the article was written in French only pointed up the hurtfulness of the boast. Canada is already the biggest harvester of lobster, that other quintessential symbol of New England — even if the Pilgrims regarded it as little more than trash fish, unworthy of a place of honor at the original Thanksgiving table (the only sure items at which were deer and wildfowl, according to Kathleen Curtin and Sandra Oliver’s “Giving Thanks”). Bad enough already that Wisconsin produces more cranberries than Massachusetts. Must we cede to Canada those too-tart, hard-to-love, health-giving remnants of a time when New England agriculture had national significance? For the rest of the New York Times article, click here.

1. In a large zip top plastic bag, place buttermilk, cayenne, and 3/4 tsp salt; add chicken pieces, turning to coat. Seal bag, pressing out excess air. Place on a large plate and refrigerate chicken at least 1 hour or preferably overnight, turning bag over once.

3. Remove chicken from buttermilk marinade, shaking off excess. Discard marinade. Add chicken pieces, a few at a time, to panko mixture, turning to coat. Place chicken in prepared pan.

4. Bake 30-35 minutes or until coating is crisp and juices run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced with the tip of a paring knife. For browner coating, after chicken is cooked, turn oven to broil. Broil chicken 5 to 6 inches from source of heat 1 to 2 minutes or until golden, keeping a very close eye on it.

Makes 4 main-dish servings.

This recipe is from Good Housekeeping June 2008.

I really liked this recipe. The buttermilk and lemon zest added a clean, unexpected kick to the breading. The recipe was fairly easy as well. Definately a delicious alternative to traditional fried chicken.

I ordered my fresh Thanksgiving turkey today-it’s going to be a 12-16 lb free ranger. It’s my first year to use a fresh turkey as opposed to the rock solid frozen ones you pick up at Wally World and have to defrost for 6784 days before discovering that on Thanksgiving day it still hasn’t thawed and you have to run cool water through it until your arms ache from holding it up before you can cook it. I’m interested to see the difference in taste and appearance between this lovely free range supposedly “happy” turkey and what I’ve used for the past few years. Will it be knock your nose off different, or more of a subtle nuance? I also finalized my menu this evening. I’m going to have 9 people attending, including myself and Mr. Rogers. This year’s menu consists of: